Petitions circulating to recall Richmond Heights mayor, 3 council members

Since taking office in December, Mayor Miesha Wilson Headen’s term in Richmond Heights has been a divisive one and now that divide has culminated in two separate petitions.
One petition is seeking a recall of the mayor, while the other asks for a recall of City Council members Eloise Henry and Donald O’Toole and council President David Roche.
A website called RecallMayorHeaden.com has been created and seeks signatures, volunteers and contributions. Carl K. Harmon is the chairman of the committee to recall the mayor.
Harmon unsuccessfully ran for the city’s Ward 2 council seat in 2011 and was again considered for the position by council earlier this year after Russell Johnson resigned because he was moving out of the area. Harmon was ultimately passed over as council chose Frank Lentine, who had previously served on council from 1978-1990, to fill the vacancy.
Special Assistant to the Mayor Ed Busch said the petitions to recall the three council members are being circulated by resident Eugene Stewart.
A petition to recall the three council members was seen circulating at the June 25 City Council meeting.
Traditionally, the mayor of Richmond Heights sits with council at the city council meetings, something Headen continued when her term first started. Not long into her term, however, Headen moved her seat from next to the department heads to the side of council chambers. The distance between the mayor and council is as metaphorical as it is physical. The mayor and council have been at odds on a number of issues since Headen replaced longtime Mayor Daniel Ursu.
A recent point of contention between the two sides involves the city’s Legal Department. Headen fired Law Director R. Todd Hunt on May 14 and cut ties with the rest of his law firm, Walter Haverfield, which included a police prosecutor and labor attorney.
Council passed an ordinance seeking legal counsel from Walter Haverfield, the firm that the mayor had cut ties with only weeks before. Headen vetoed the resolution, claiming it violates the city’s charter, which states only the mayor has the authority to appoint a law director. Council members overrode the veto, stating that they are not appointing a law director, only seeking legal counsel while the city is without a law director.
Since then, Headen has put one nominee for law director, Joseph Szeman, in front of council for consideration twice and both times was rejected. Council members O’Toole and Henry both cited a letter written by Szeman as the basis for their decision. O’Toole said the letter “basically threatened legal action” against council for their appointment of Walter Haverfield as legal counsel.
Council has voted down a number of the mayor’s appointees as well. Headen presented two candidates of her own for the vacant Ward 2 council seat, but both were ultimately rejected. According to the city charter, the mayor has 45 days to present a candidate to council for approval. After that period, council has the authority to approve its own candidate, which it did when it picked Lentine. Also voted down were the aforementioned Szeman, Pastor Myrle Weems to the city’s Ethics Commission and most recently a legal representative for the city’s Charter Review Commission. Council members said that their legal counsel can serve as representatives for the commission.
The Charter Review Commission is expecting to present its list of proposed amendments to the city’s charter at the July 22 meeting. Proposed changes include making the position of mayor full-time (effective for the term on the 2017 ballot) and granting the mayor the authority to “appoint, promote, transfer, demote or remove all directors, board members and department heads” listed on the charter without council’s approval. Also proposed is lowering the number of signatures needed to recall ward and at-large City Council members. Changes to the charter will be voted on by residents in the November general election.
According to the city’s charter, a recall petition must be signed by registered voters in a number equal to at least 25 percent of the total votes cast in the preceding regular municipal election.
If the official does not resign within five days, a date for a recall election shall be chosen by council no less than 30 days and no more than 45 days from the delivery date.